Saturday, February 28, 2015

2015 "VOLTZWAGEN" e-Golf! "the Zippy Car"

Here is the 2015 VW e-Golf, an ALL-ELECTRIC VW with LED headlights, 'C' shaped day time running lights, aero alloy wheels EPA rate 116mpge and an average range between 70-95 miles.
Ok, so the car doesn't come like this, but I couldn't help myself, and this time I went beyond photoshop and actually made the custom vinyl myself.

I used my wife's paper crafting cutter to cut out the fender decals out of 3M 1080 Cosmic Blue and Metallic Silver. Created the graphic in illustrator after a rough tape version I made to get the size and angle correct.

I also wrapped the underside of the rear spoiler gloss black like the GTI. Then I had the roof wrapped in gloss black and the mirrors in cosmic blue by VinylStyles in San Carlos.

There is still one more piece to do and that is a cosmic blue stripe just under the door opening to help ground the car a bit. Debating getting the Eibach sport lowering springs to drop it a bit. In addition to these exterior touches I also added the metal pedals and dead pedal, LED bulbs in the rear lights and power folding mirrors.

As far as the experience of switching to an all-electric car after coming from a GTI and R32, I gotta say that it's pretty darn FUN!! Sure it's not as 'sporty' due to the low rolling resistance tires, but the power delivery is quite addictive with 200ftlbs of torque at any point it takes off quicker than a GTI from 0 and since it has no transmission it just keeps pulling without hesitation and even stranger, without much sound. So much so my boys call it "the zippy car"!

Eco wise is very efficient even in it's full power 'normal' mode averaging over 4.2mpkwh on my daily commute and that's without any sort of sacrifice of driving style. So I can whoomp on it and just use the brake regen modes wisely and still get 4+ mpkwh. Yes going uphill drops that pretty quickly, but going down brings it right back up. It also is way more responsive than a Nissan Leaf which to me felt squishy and soft in pedal feel and is plain ugly. The Fiat 500e was also fun, but way too small for our family. The BMW i3 was more powerful and futuristic, but also weird for no reason and $15,000 more for the same range performance.... and kinda ugly too. The e-Golf also offers more modes than all the other EV's out there including a coast mode (D) that's turns off the regen completely, as well as 3 increasing levels (D1, D2, D3) and a 'Brake' mode (B) that is strong enough it makes the brake lights come on as soon as you lift your foot off the accelerator.
In all I gotta say that this will not be my last electric car, in fact it may be the first of a long line of nothing but electric cars in my future. I choose to lease the e-Golf in hopes that Tesla would have their cheaper Model III ready, but I'm not holding my breath at this point since the Model X still has yet to appear and the gigafactory has barely been started.
So for now I must commend VW for such a fun and sensible electric car that ticks all the right boxes and still makes driving a fun event! And I don't miss having to stop at a gas station!!

It though about matte black or even carbon fiber, but there was already a theme of gloss black on the car, so I thought I'd keep it looking like it might have come that way. Can't mess up the rims as this is a lease car, but I've come to like the flat disks, just wish they were bigger so I could use lower profile tires. The mirrors are an option in Europe, so I for a set on the forums and installed them pretty easily. They come as a whole new mirror assembly and switch that just fit right on and plug right in, they come with added puddle lights and the split angle mirror glass. Not cheap though, just under $500 for the pair. But I like the feature as my garage is narrow and keeps them from getting knocked off in the city...